Aboyne Urban SOUL 2 2026Saturday 2nd May
Credit: Sally Lindsay
Although the ESOC contingent was small, there were 7 podium places for the club, with 1st places for Hannah, Alison & Ewart, including a clean sweep in the women's ultravet category! Hannah, Alison, Ewart and Luke are also now lying in 1st place in the overall SOUL standings.
Hannah Durnall reports:
The second race in the Scottish Urban series was held in the Deeside town of Aboyne. The evnt used Auld Kirk Hall as the event centre, with the start a short walk away near Aboyne tennis club. The rural urban map provided a pleasing mix of quiet lanes, streets and, less commonly found for urban, some segments of open forest. In the wooded area, complicated paths caught some people out! Most courses incorporated a road crossing where to avoid unfairness due to traffic, the clock was stopped for up to 60s between two controls, allowing a welcome tactical recovery for those who needed it! Plenty of route choices available with some fast running to be had, particularly the sprint finish across Charlestown Green. Use of the forest paths for the junior courses allowed juniors to run unshadowed away from traffic, with parents only needing to accompany them to the start. The weather was better than advertised, and although ominous dark skies were seen towards the end of the event, the rain held off until just about course closure time.
ESOC results in the top half:
- MYJ (9) - Luke Durnall 4th
- MV (14) - Terry Johnstone 8th
- WV (16) - Hannah Durnall 1st
- MUV (13) - Kevin Harding 5th, Crawford Lindsay 7th
- WUV (6) - Alison Harding 1st, Margaret Dalgleish 2nd, Sally Lindsay 3rd
- MHV (8) - Ewart Scott 1st, Leslie Dalgleish 3rd
- WHV (3) - Eleanor Pyrah 2nd
Full results and Routegadget can be found here, with the updated SOUL league here.
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